South African Defense Minister Pay Reduced for Air Force Aircraft Use

The South African president has withdrawn three months of the defense minister’s pay after she allowed ruling party officials to fly with her on an air force plane to Zimbabwe on 9 September.

Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula was charged with embezzlement of state resources for party political affairs.

The defense force had argued that it was on official business and had simply taken the other passengers.

But President Cyril Ramaphosa called it an “error in judgment.”

Ms. Mapisa-Nqakula had been traveling to the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, for a meeting scheduled to discuss regional issues.

Meanwhile, the delegation from South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), was heading there to engage in crisis talks with the ruling Zanu-PF party of Zimbabwe with the aim of helping address the country’s political and economic problems. .

But opposition politicians were extremely critical of the fact that she let the ANC delegation accompany her.

Ramaphosa, who upon coming to power had vowed to clean up the ANC’s reputation after a decade of corruption scandals, said that by giving ANC delegates a shove on the plane, she was not acting “in the best interest of good government”.

As a result, he said that he had decided to reduce Ms. Mapisa-Nqakula’s salary, and that the money would go to a fund to help fight the coronavirus.

In response, the opposition Democratic Alliance party said Ramaphosa had not gone far enough and called the punishment a slap on the wrist.

The issue could be discussed further in parliament amid some calls for her to be fired.